First Aid Kits for Preppers

Whether you are a Prepper or not,
it's a good idea to make a Preppers first aid kit. A Preppers First Aid Kit can run the
gamut from the extreme to just the basics. You will need
one in your Every Day Carry Bag and for your IFAK,
Individual First Aid Kit. Our first aid kit at home
looks more like a mobile trauma hospital.

A well stocked first aid kit for preppers is a critical part of any
survival or preparedness setup. How large your first aid kit needs to be
is largely dependent on your individual situation, and whether the kit
will be carried, tucked away in a vehicle, or in a closet at home.

We keep a first aid kit in my car, in my bug-out bag, and
a full trauma kit at home. That’s three different kits in various sizes
with different contents. The home based first aid kit is obviously the
largest. For new Preppers when assembling a first aid kit, it’s useful
to begin with one that is pre-made. Pre-manufactured kits usually come
with their own bag or case, which is handy. We have several that we
suggest that are a top-of-the-line first aid setup with virtually
everything you need to handle trauma at home or in the field. Depending
on the circumstances some are big, while others fit in a backpack that
can be quickly grabbed for transport if necessary.

For your car, I
started out with an all-purpose first aid kit. It’s not as big as the
mobile hospital we have at home and doesn’t take up much room in the
trunk, but it’s still a good well rounded kit. Here is
our choice:

A more
robust alternative, especially for the hunter or in the
event you have to bug-out on foot might be the
Tactical Trauma Backpack.

If you need something a
bit cheaper, the
Tactical Trauma Kit is a good place to start. The
Tactical Trauma Kit is small enough to fit in your bug
out bag or attach to your MOLLE web gear. Here is a good
one:

Anytime you leave the house,
you should always carry a first aid kit. In my Everyday
Carry Bag is an
Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) that is supplemented
with the items I list below for trauma treatment. This makes the perfect blow-out kit
for a possible gunshot injury. Many of us hunt, or train
at the range. Nobody ever goes out
hunting, or to the
range, (or the movie theater for that matter) expecting to get hurt but every year hundreds
of accidents happen. If you’re going to be around guns,
it’s a good idea to have a first aid bag with a blow-out
kit. Hopefully you’ll never need it to treat an actual
gunshot, but it’s nice to have for minor accidents too.

Trauma Kits are an essential. Here is
our choice:

After TEOTWAWKI, doctors and hospitals
will be in short supply. First Aid Kits are available to
purchase, or you can build your own. Here is a free pdf
download of a basic first aid kit:

Naturally, I added
some extra items to all of my kits, customizing them to
their anticipated roles. Our home based kit is the most
heavily augmented first aid kit. Along with the enormous
inventory of the First Aid Kit listed in our free pdf
download, I added the following items:

The
all purpose First Aid Kit I keep in the
car is pretty well outfitted just as it
comes, but I went ahead and added the
above items to it along with some
sunscreen, insect repellent, a
flashlight, permanent marker, Para-Cord,
duct tape, super glue,
respirator, tampons, and an
assortment of OTC drugs including a
antihistamines and ibuprofen.

While most of these kits are heavily
outfitted with gauze and bandages, I
always add more. Gauze is one thing it
seems that you can never have enough of.
It is used to treat almost every type of
bleeding wound, and so runs out quickly.

Other items you may want to add to any
first aid kit include an extra set of
shears and a tourniquet (if the kit does
not already have one). For some time,
the use of a tourniquet was discouraged
as it could lead to the loss of a limb.
Modern emergency medical practice
however has recognized the value of a
tourniquet in reducing blood loss,
despite the chance of losing the
affected limb from over-tightening.

US Army Staff Surgeon Maj. Alec C.
Beekley commented on his experience with
the use of tourniquets saying, “It was
my experience that if they came in with
an extremity wound and they had a
tourniquet on, they had a fighting
chance. If they didn’t have a
tourniquet, or they had a tourniquet
that wasn’t effective, they died. I
don’t know what other injuries they
might have had, so I can’t say whether a
good tourniquet would have made the
difference. But soldiers who came in
with tourniquets on, even if they were
hard to resuscitate, they generally were
able to survive.” As with many other
items in your first aid kit, seek out
specific training when it comes to the
proper use of a tourniquet.

Having a well
stocked first
aid kit is just
the beginning.
You
should seek out
training from
the Red Cross or
other
organization and
learn proper
first aid
procedures. Even
if you have been
trained in the
past, it’s a
good idea to
seek out
continuing
education and
refresher
courses. Medical
technology
changes rapidly,
and enrolling in
a refresher
course keeps you
up to date on
current modern
practices.

Even if you have
extensive
training with
your first aid
kit, put a book
on basic first
aid in your kit.

You never know
who may be using
it in an
emergency, and
you may be the
one who is hurt.
Depending on the
injury, you may
be unconscious
or unable to
communicate,
making it
impossible for
you to instruct
someone helping
you. Go over the
use of your kit
with your family
and members of
your household.
If you are out
hunting, let
the other
members of your
prepper group know
where your
emergency kit is
and how to use
it. After all,
the whole
purpose of
having one is to
be prepared when
emergencies
happen, and you
never know when
the person who
needs to be
saved will be
yourself.